


klaus’ painted nails

by multifandomhq



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Boys With Nail Polish, I need validation, It is now, Other, They’re kids, allison and diego are kinda there, five vanya and luther are mentioned, is that a tag, i’m a horrible writer sorry, i’m begging you to comment, klaus and ben centric, ooc? idk i’m bad at studying characters, very cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 18:10:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17944613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/multifandomhq/pseuds/multifandomhq
Summary: klaus paints his nails for the first time, with the help of his siblings.





	klaus’ painted nails

**Author's Note:**

> okay so the idea i had planned out in my head was cute but my delivery was uhhhh kind of iffy. i haven’t written in nearly two years and it’s kind of difficult so please don’t be mean lol. also i didn’t check for spelling errors so please let me know if there is any!

an odd aroma was radiating from klaus’ room, something ben couldn’t quite place. it was indeed recognizable, but he wasn’t sure what it was. the air was scented with something sweet, intertwined with a strong sense of alcohol. well, the smell wasn’t _that_ odd, but such typically came from allison’s room.

 

ben inched closer and closer to his brothers room in order to see what he was up to. as he advanced, the smell grew stronger, nearly unbearable. for god sake, how could klaus stand it? the bedroom door was left ajar, enough for number six to peek in. sat with his back against the bed, there was klaus rubbing angrily at his left hand. ben pushed the door open slightly, and entered. doing so caused the floor to creak.

 

on cue, number four’s eyes noticeably widened. he threw what ben noted as a paper towel out of his hand and attempted to hide the objects in front of him. nail polish. the fingers of the boy were smeared with navy blue paint. it had been obvious that klaus was painting his nails, or was _attempting_  to, but messed up and tried to remove it.

 

“ben, i-“ started klaus but he cut himself off. his green eyes started to fill with tears and small, choked whimpers broke into the air.“i’m sorry, i’m sorry, i’m sorry, i was only going to try it, i’m sorry.” he said, barely above a whisper, repeatedly. his arms wrapped around his knees as he buried his face continuing to repeat _i’m sorry, i’m sorry_.

 

ben rushed into the room to be by his brothers side. “hey. hey, klaus. it’s okay. don’t be sorry,” the asian boy comforted. klaus looked up at him, his lip shivering and his cheeks stained with tears. ben could feel his heart break at the sight. “let me help you. i’ll be right back.” ben clumsily got up and rushed out of the room, leaving klaus a confused, sobbing mess.

 

—

 

minutes passed by and klaus started to wonder if ben only claimed to help him as an excuse to get out of there. of course he did. he was a freak, stealing allison’s nail polish because he liked the way it colored her fingers and sometimes even shined. he wanted that for himself. if given the time, he would’ve been neater with applying it and taking it off, but there was only time until someone would catch him, just like ben had. maybe if he didn’t leave the door slightly open to air out the room because of the intoxicating smell, or just did so in allison’s room, nobody would’ve found out. ben would still like him.

 

he thought himself as an idiot.

 

lost in self pity, he almost didn’t notice the footsteps approaching his door. bracing himself to be yelled at, the séance cowered back against his bed. he expected to be called a multitude of names, but what he did not expect was ben struggling to open the door with his hands occupied with a variety of different nail polish colors, a bottle of purple liquid, cotton balls, and tissues. confused was an understatement.

 

as if ben’s power was reading minds, he spoke up, “i told you i’d help you, klaus. these are all allison’s. she was kind of confused why i wanted them, but let me borrow anyways. i’m not an expert at this, but i’ve seen allison do it so how hard can it be?” he said all at once, with a kind smile on his face. klaus let out a shaky laugh and responded, “pretty hard.”

 

ben giggled and set the items on the floor as he sat in front of klaus. “let me see your hands, you idiot.” normally a comment like that would’ve stung, but with ben, he knew he meant it with love. he cautiously unwrapped his arms. ben grabbed the purple bottle and untwisted it, pouring some of the liquid onto a cotton ball. “nail polish remover.” he stated simply. with that, he grabbed klaus right hand and began to wipe prudently at his fingers.

 

“i thought you might want to try again, but i didn’t know what colors you wanted to i kinda grabbed almost all of them.” now he was on to the his left hand. klaus nodded. “how about _all_  of them?” klaus quietly asked. ben paused and looked at him, eyebrows quirked. “you mean, like a rainbow?” he questioned. klaus nervously nodded in return. ben nodded, too. “okay.” klaus let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “cut your nails, dude!” ben teased. this caused the two boys to erupt in a fit of neverending giggles.

the two decided on painting his toenails so he could hide them with his socks, and not have to take it off.his fingernails were painted clear, which he in fact did NOT know was a color, but awarded him with the same shine he craved. ben’s work was far from perfect, and he may have gotten purple on klaus’ feet, but the effort was more than enough. resisting the urge to smile during the process was nearly impossible.

 

“thank you, benny.”

 

“you’re welcome, _dummy_.”

 

—

 

klaus and ben kept the routine of painting klaus’ toenails, different colors each time. sitting across from each other with their legs criss-crossed, like the school children they were. every time they did so, they got significantly better.

 

during one of many nail-painting sessions, allison walked in on them. “i know what you losers are doing.” she said, nonchalantly. the boys froze. a small smile grew on her face. “come on guys, be more discreet. also, open up a window. it smells in here.” she walked over to the window and opened it up midway, then sat next to the two.

 

“anyway, i came to give you some of my nail polish that i think would suit you, so you two can stop trying to horribly sneak away with mine. don’t think i haven’t noticed.” number three said with a chuckle. she reached behind her to grab the bag she brought with her, which revealed to have brand new polish remover and five different polish colors. she looked over to see klaus’ halfway painted magenta toes. “not bad, let me help.”

 

the duo’s sessions soon became the trio’s.

 

—

 

diego was third person to find out, and his reaction didn’t go at all how klaus thought it would.

 

it had been nearly one in the morning, and the ghosts tormenting klaus just wouldn’t let him sleep, and the rare time he finally was able to, his brain was invaded with nightmares. the latter seemed like the better option, but he couldn’t stand the state he was in. his uniform pajamas stuck to his figure, thanks to the sweat the he was covered in. the sensation of being sticky wasn’t desirable. his body trembled in fear.

 

he decided he’d feel better with some company, so he dragged himself out of his now wet bed, and walked across the wooden floor. his legs were shaking and seemed as if they’d give out any second. somehow, he found his way to diego’s room.

 

his shaken hands rapped on the door. “diego.” he pleaded into the door, hoping he was awake. it didn’t take long for diego to open the door, wearing an irritated look. “what do you want, klaus?” he asked impatiently.

 

klaus wasn’t sure if he could trust his voice, but he spoke anyway. “i- i can’t sleep. they won’t leave me alone.” he whimpered. diego was ready to close the door on klaus’ face but he noticed the way his body trembled and how his pajamas were moist with sweat. he let out a deep sigh. “let’s get you cleaned up.”

 

the two made their way to the bathroom. this wouldn’t be the first time klaus was too weak and frightened to clean himself up. diego started up a warm bath and helped klaus undress. as he did so, the baby blue paint on his toes didn’t go unnoticed. “what’s that?” he asked, curiously looking at his toes.

 

klaus was far too tired to process the fact one of his biggest secrets was revealed. he shrugged instead. “it looks nice. try black.” diego said, sounding sure. despite being tremendously sleepy, klaus told himself he would remember this and cherish it.

 

—

 

on their thirteenth birthday, diego, ben and allison gathered into klaus’ room, claiming to have a surprise. the three of them suspiciously stood side by side, with their hands behind their backs. “what is it, guys?” klaus curiously asked. he tried to think of what they could possibly be up to, but his mind came to a blank. ben walked up to his bed, with a bag clutched in his hand. “here,” he said with a smile, “take it.”

 

klaus slowly grabbed the bag and dumped it’s contents into the middle of the bed. out spilled at least ten different nail polish colors. this time, allison spoke up. “i noticed your collection was running out and drying up, so we got you some new ones.” a multitude of shades and tints of polish lay in front of him. he could barely believe his eyes, there was even gold and glitter! to anybody else, it wouldn’t seem like much, but klaus could feel his eyes burning and brimming with tears that threatened to spill. 

 

ben took notice on this and frowned. “what’s wrong? do you not like it? we tho-“ klaus cut him off. “no, no. don’t be silly. it’s the exact opposite. i love it.” he meant it. despite it being all of their birthdays, they did something for _him_. “thank you guys.” the words didn’t seem like enough,but it’s all he could convey. he couldn’t seem to put his feeling of pure euphoria into words.

 

maybe he was just picturing things, which could be highly likely, he thought he could see a hint of a smile on diego’s face. “don’t mention it.” he said. “seriously, don’t.”

 

he never smiled brighter.

 

—

 

it didn’t take too long for the other hargreeves siblings to find out.

 

vanya noticed it due to being very observant, and although she didn’t really paint her nails like allison, she liked to tag along with her and ben to paint klaus’ nails because she liked to be included. sometimes, she helped picked out a color and even suggested doing different patterns and designs. klaus took kindly to that.

 

luther didn’t really seem to care. he noticed because of allison and took it as something klaus seemed like he would do. all he said was not to do it too often because it could weaken his nails. klaus didn’t know if that was true or not, but still listened. luther sometimes even used his powers to help open the nail polish when klaus couldn’t, because the paint would occasionally dry around the lid.

 

regardless of being completely supportive of it, five couldn’t seem to bare the smell and advised klaus not to do it anywhere near him. he did like to see the ending result, though. the many colors and patterns of his nail polish intrigued him. his personal favorite was the strip of white klaus would put on each thumb. “nice nails,” he’d say as if he didn’t care, but candidly he was glad that klaus had something to make him this happy. 

 

and of course, reginald didn’t know, due to being a distant, utter piece of shit. he only cared about their powers, as usual. klaus wasn’t sure on how he’d react though, so he counted this as a good thing. he had his siblings, and although being dysfunctional, he wouldn’t have it any other way, as corny as it sounds.

 

even though it was just paint, the polish made him feel significantly stronger than he was. it gave him a newly found confidence once he was open about it. it’d be something he could do just for fun or use as an escape from everything. klaus then decided nothing could make him happier than his nail polish. 

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are highly appreciated. thank u for reading. i hope this wasn’t too bad. <3


End file.
